Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about concerns with employment rates, so I have questions for the Minister responsible for employment. In this particular case, that would be Mr. Lafferty.
Could Mr. Lafferty provide some examples of true unemployment figures in several of our communities, and I’ll allow him to pick his own examples of what the true unemployment figures are in some of our northern communities, please.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The detailed stats I don’t have in front of me, but I can provide that to the Member. We have been closely monitoring the stats that have been coming in, whether it be nationally or even our own Northwest Territories jurisdiction. We’re coming out with some solutions to deal with those matters as we move forward with the federal government as well. So those are some of the programming that we need to put more emphasis on to deal with those individuals at the community level. Mahsi.
Thank you. By way of example, the last figures I can find, of course under our NWT Bureau of Stats, is Beau-Del was at 54 percent, Deh Cho 50 percent, Sahtu 55, South Slave 63, Tlicho 39 percent and YK at 79, and that’s sort of territory-wide for the Minister’s benefit.
What job creation programs has this department created under the tenure of this Minister, and can he provide some examples of how many new jobs have been placed on the ground and where?
Mahsi. The Member is asking for more detailed information and I can certainly provide the breakdown of the stats. Again, I don’t have the breakdown of the stats in front of me, but I can assure the Member that the Canada Job Fund is an area that we’ve negotiated with the federal government to deal with those individuals at the community level where there’s high unemployment at the community level. Not only that, there’s also a Labour Market Development Agreement where we’re currently negotiating with the federal government to provide more flexibility for those individuals that are on EI as well. So these are some of the areas of programming.
The Small Community Employment Program is another initiative that this government has been very successful to date. So I can forward that detailed information to the Member. Mahsi.
Thank you. Although actual employment rates are trending downwards, we’re going south, as I said, literally and figuratively. We’ve noticed that the federal government has slashed the EI program, which is going to now fall onto the territorial government to pick up the slack. As I said earlier today and I’ll just make one more point, which is the Yellowknife rate of unemployment is closer to 3.4 percent, and of course, as we all know here, the community unemployment rate is closer to 30 percent, if you’re lucky to be that low.
The reality here is, and my next question leads into, if the Minister can’t offer any details, maybe he can speak to what specific programs he’s seen initiatives create new jobs in territorial communities and provide some examples. Thank you.
Mahsi. I thought I did that in my last answer where different programs, Canada’s Job Fund is a national program. Specifically for the Northwest Territories, we are receiving funds towards those individuals that do not qualify for EI and we’ve created some incentives, as well, where we have $500,000 in addition to other provincial jurisdictions because of our uniqueness, our remoteness and the highest unemployment in the Northwest Territories. So that’s one particular program.
There’s also the Labour Market Development Agreement. There’s the small communities programming, employment programs that we’ve initiated. These are just some of the programs that are available. There’s on-the-job training within my department too. I can have the breakdown to the Members, all those programs that relate to this particular initiative.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll gladly take any one of those commitments, all or some or who knows what I’ll get, but I’ll certainly welcome every single one of them. Since, as I highlighted, the changes to the EI program, it now makes it more challenging for our northern workforce to find consistent, meaningful employment options. We’re now talking that you have to find well over five months of actual work to qualify for EI. Now, in a robust, working economy, not a problem. I accept any changes. But what is the department prepared for in this new shift where they’ve extended the hours one must have to work but community options and employment options are not keeping pace with this immediate demand? Feel free to use any briefing note you want to answer this question too. I’m here for the facts.
We’re fully aware of all of these different stats and the calculation that has been changed by the federal government. It is a federal government administered program, the EI, so I will provide the facts that the Member is alluding to.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
